State police arrest uncle, nephew in connection with Chesterville home invasion

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine State Police arrested two Augusta men Thursday in connection with Monday’s home invasion in Chesterville during which a young girl was home alone at the time.

The men, identified as James Dingus and his nephew, Stephen Dingus, both 31, are facing a number of charges from both both the Franklin County and the Lincoln County sheriff’s offices in connection with several burglaries, Stephen McCausland of the Maine Department of Public Safety said Thursday in a news release.

McCausland said Trooper Elisha Fowlie and Trooper Adam McNaughton of the state police found James Dingus walking on Gage Street in Augusta and took him into custody. James Dingus and Stephen Dingus were both wanted by Franklin County authorities for Monday’s home invasion.

With assistance from Augusta police and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Stephen Dingus was found in an apartment on State Street in Augusta a short time later, McCausland said, adding that the second suspect jumped from a second-story window while attempting to avoid arrest.

State police Lt. Shaun Currie saw Dingus jump and took him into custody as he landed on the ground, McCausland said. Detectives from Lincoln County and Franklin County, along with state police, conducted a search of their apartment at 37 Gage St. The Dinguses’ car — a 1998 maroon Chevy Lumina — was seized.